Bat Wings and Bird Feathers
by Animelove27
Summary: Fantasy AU. Tim notices the changes in Robin, never realizing that he would change one day too.
1. Dick Grayson

Chapter One: Dick Grayson

It all started with Dick Grayson. Tim was taking his photos of Batman and Robin like most nights, sneaking along the patrol route to find the best angle of the action. This time, he chose a great spot behind a large potted plant on a roof and got some great shots of Batman and Robin taking down the Penguin's goons.

It wasn't until Tim was developing his nightlife photos that he noticed that Robin was going through his molting period again. Unlike Batman, Robin had actual feathered wings to aid his flights across Gotham City. Obviously, the Batman had bat wings. Sadly, Tim still hadn't figured out how Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson hid their abnormally large wings during their daily lives. Secret of the trade, he assumed.

Anyway, Robin's wings were starting to fall out more easily, which wasn't unusual from time to time as he grew. This time however, the feathers growing in were not the typical Boy Wonder's green, red, and yellow. The new feathers were black and a few were an unusual blue. Tim thought the mix of blue, black, green, red, and yellow wasn't a good change, but Robin's feathers were probably not growing in those colors by choice.

It was shortly after he developed the picture of Robin's new molting when he discovered that Batman and Robin were arguing more. There were less inane jokes and more snarky comebacks. Robin was fighting a bit more fiercely and not taking orders well. Batman was getting frustrated with Robin, too.

Then, Robin disappeared. Batman was flying solo like he had during his first years in Gotham. When Tim read some newspapers, he discovered Dick Grayson had moved to Bludhaven. And, there was a new vigiliante there, too. Nightwing.

When Dick Grayson came back to visit once or twice, Nightwing had flown in Robin's place and his feathers had become completely black and blue. The red, green, and yellow of Robin were gone.


	2. Jason Todd

AN: At this point, there will be four or more chapters. Thank you for reading. This is turning out to be more melancholy than I had hoped. 

Chapter 2: Jason Todd

Jason Todd was the one to bring back the green, red, and gold of Robin. He was the second, and he fought well. Tim had observed his path to Robin from the beginning; he had been taking photos the night that Jason had been caught jacking the Batmobile's tires. It was an amusing scene; the stern Batman confronting a glaring street kid who didn't back down.

Jason was different from Dick. Instead of quirky one liners, Jason fought with snarky comments and hard hits. He fought dirty and with less acrobatics than flashy Dick Grayson. Tim thought Jason made a great Robin because he had passion. He truly fought for the "little people," the kiddos on the streets, the women trying to get from place to place, the teens getting conned into starting a drug addiction from dealers. Tim supposed it was because Jason had seen it all firsthand and wanted things to change.

As a result, Jason's wings were vivid in the red, green, and gold. He had a bit more red than Dick, but he kept up the Robin name. His fiery temper matched his red wings, and the passion which he used to fight inspired Tim. The young photographer found himself out taking pictures of the Dynamic Duo more often, hoping to catch even a piece of the newest Robin's spark. Dick may have been the first, but Jason was Tim's Robin.

Unfortunately, like all things Tim took an interest in, Jason had fallen. He had changed his passion into anger against the aggressors, causing problems to come up between Batman and Robin. Jason hit harder and caused more injuries than ever before. It all came to a head when a man fell to his death from the top of a building. Jason said the man had gotten scared and jumped, but the Batman seemed to think the man had been pushed to his death. Tim noticed the mistrust between the two correlated with the start of Jason's molting.

As Tim observed their changing relationship, he noticed Jason's molting caused black feathers to appear and the amount of red feathers increased. Just like Dick, the green and gold became less and less, simply a glint of gold here or there or a flash of green when the light hit Jason's wings just so. It was disheartening for Tim; his hero was changing, becoming darker.

Was the color change due to their change from teenagers into adults? Did they molt because they were growing up? Or was the molt that changed the feathers' colors due to stress and conflict? Tim had a few theories about the molting process, but with only two subjects and no way of studying them more closely, he had to save his ideas on his computer and leave them for another time.

Then, Jason and Bruce left the country and only Bruce came back.


End file.
